Childhood Memories
by pandagirl7878
Summary: Before becoming members of the legendary Class Zero, Machina and Rem led peaceful lives in a small Rubran village. And these two troublemakers were going to make the most of that childhood.
1. Chapter 1

**Ter. XVII, 832 RG**

Machina didn't understand why Rem hadn't been seen in almost a month. Had one of them done something wrong?

His mind drifted back to the time Izana had dared the two of them to spend an hour in the nearby Bethnel Caverns. Maybe Rem's parents had found out about that…

But the two of them hadn't seen each other in weeks. He was determined to check on her. Machina was surprised that Izana had even agreed to this.

"You'd better not get caught. Why are you even doing this?"

"Rem's been alone for too long, Izana! Come on, help me up!"

Being four years older, Izana was easily able to lift his little brother onto the roof of the Tokimiya's shed, which luckily stood right outside of Rem's window.

"I'll keep a lookout… mom and dad are going to kill you…"

Machina ignored his brothers pessimism, and carefully climbed up the roof before knocking on Rem's window. Within a few moments, it was opened.

"Machina? What are you doing out here?" Rem coughed a few times.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay, you haven't been at school in a while… or out to play…"

"I got sick. Like really sick. My parents won't let me go out and play."

"Are you gonna get better?"

Rem smiled. "Of course I am! I'll be back out to play with you in no time, I will!"

Machina reached into his back pocket, and pulled out a piece of paper. "I drew this for you. It's you and me!"

"Thank you, Machina. Do you want to come help me hang it up?"

Rem reached out her hand and helped Machina into her room. Rem dug through the drawers of her desk to find a roll of tape, while Machina looked at the rest of the drawings hung on her walls.

She returned a few moments later, and Machina handed her the drawing. "You have a lot of drawings…"

"Yeah… but I like to have them in case I forget anyone. Then I'll have something from them."

"You're not gonna forget me for a long time, Rem! No bad grown ups will hurt us!"

"That's right! We'll become cadets and beat up the bad guys!" Rem laughed, but it caused her to go back into a fit of coughing. "You should probably go, Machina, I don't want you to get sick too…"

"Okay. I hope you feel better soon."

Machina climbed out the window, and attempted to get his footing on the shed roof, but instead fell right through it, onto its floor.

Without a second thought, Rem rushed out of her room, and out to the shed. Her parents ran after her to scold her for breaking the rules, but when they saw Machina lying on the ground, they brought him inside to make sure he was okay.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to say something…" Rem started crying as she spoke to her mother.

"We all forget things sometimes. Just try to remember to come to us for help next time, okay?" Rem's mother pulled her into a tight hug. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay."

"How did he even get up there in the first place? Izana?"

Izana had come inside with his brother, and was waiting for his parents in the living room. "He wanted to make sure Rem was okay. He hadn't heard from her in a month."

"She's been really sick. We've been worried about having her around other kids, but we're going to take her to a doctor in Meroe soon. She'll be back to school in no time."

"That's good to hear. Machina, how's your head?"

"It'll be fine! I'm a tough kid!"

"You started crying when I told you that Rem could be dying."

"I'd forget all about her then! Izana!" Machina hit his brother with the bag of ice.

"Don't hit your brother now, Machina."

"Sorry…"

Machina's parents came in later that evening with stern looks on their face. "Machina Kunagiri! What in the world gave you the idea to climb on the shed to talk to your friend who's been sick for a month! You're lucky you didn't break anything! And Izana! You didn't try to stop him!?"

Rem covered her ears as Mrs. Kunagiri yelled at her sons. She dragged them both out of the house shortly afterwards.

"That was certainly something…" Rem's mother went back to washing the dishes from dinner while Rem colored at the kitchen table.


	2. Chapter 2

**Cal. III, 830 RG**

It was a beautiful day out. The sun was shining, the flowers were blooming, and the birds were singing.

Today was a special day for Rem, though. she was going to start school! Her mother had laid her clothes out her my dresser the night before. It was her favorite outfit, a pink shirt with a black skirt and a pair of flower-covered leggings.

Sbe buttoned up the last button on her dress before packing up her school bag. Notebooks, check. Pencils, check. Favorite stuffed animal, check. She skipped down the stairs, and to the kitchen.

Her mother was standing by the stove, trying to cook something. She was a great cook, in Rem's mind, she learned everything from her mom, who worked in the cafe with Rem's grandpa. Sometimes, Rem would help out, in hopes she would get to meet other kids in the village. Sadly, other kids rarely came into the cafe, and her parents didn't let her outside without them.

"Rem? Is that you?" Rem's father looked up from his newspaper. "Good morning, sweetie."

"Morning, Dad!" Rem sat down on her chair at the table, and swung her feet. They still didn't touch the floor yet, but she knew they would one day!

"You ready for school?"

"Yeah! Got my notebooks and my pencils and… Mama, where's my lunch box?"

"One moment, sweetie. I'm just finishing up this bacon."

Rem continued to swing her feet as she waited patiently. Rem's mother set a plate of food and my lunchbox down in front of her quickly. She kissed Rem's head, and sat down with her own plate.

"Thank you, Mama."

After breakfast, Rem noticed her parents' frowns.

Rem's mother set her hand on her husband's. "Rem, there's something we need to tell you."

"Okay."

"You know how you take medicine every morning?" Rem's dad pointed to the little cup next to her plate.

Rem nodded. "So I can grow up healthy, right?"

"Sweetie, I'm sorry we didn't tell you this before, but you're sick." Rem's father put his newspaper away. "And you'll be sick for a very long time."

"Like… ten years?"

Her mother laughed. "Sure. Ten years sounds good. You might not be able to play as much with the other kids, okay? If you start coughing too much, or it starts to hurt, you can tell the teacher."

"Okay."

Rem's mother got up and lifted Rem off the chair. "That's my big, strong girl. You're going to be a great student, okay?"

"Yeah, I will!"

"Alright. Honey, are you ready?" Rem's parents exchanged a quick glance.

"Give me just a moment to get my shoes on." Rem's father tickled her feet, making her giggle. "Rem still needs hers too."

They walked down the street to school together. Other parents had their kids with them too. Rem looked around, she didn't know anyone. She grabbed her mother's hand as hard as she could and hid behind her.

"It's okay, Rem. No one's gonna hurt you." Her father tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, as they approached the teacher.

"Rem, this is Mrs. Gushiken, she'll be your teacher."

Rem leaned out behind her mother. She held out her hand so the teacher could shake it. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Gushiken."

"Nice to meet you too, Rem. You can go play with the other kids if you want."

Rem let go of her mother's hand, and she gave her another kiss. "Be good, okay? We'll see you this afternoon."

"Okay."

She straightened her backpack, and looked around. Everyone seemed to already have a friend. There was a black-haired boy talking to someone who looked like him, but taller. Brothers, she assumed. A few girls were playing with dolls near some flowers. Some of the boys were running around with a ball. No one else was alone.

"Just leave me alone, Izana! I can do it myself!"

The shorter, black-haired boy turned around and ran into Rem. She fell to the ground. The boy held his hand out to her.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"

Rem took his hand. "It's okay!" She coughed a few times. "Oh, I'm Rem! Rem Tokimiya!"

The boy shook Rem's hand. "Machina Kunagiri. Nice to meet you."

"Is it your first day too?"

"Yeah."

"Want to hang out?"

"Sure!"

Machina walked over to the swings, where no one else was playing on. They sat down, and rocked back and forth for a little bit.

"So... what do you like to do?" Machina asked.

"I draw a lot. And I help my grandma in the cafe sometimes. What about you?"

"Reading's fun, I think. And helping my dad feed the chocobos."

"Chocobos? What are those?"

"You've never seen a chocobo before?"

"Nope. Just the little birds that fly up to my window because I give them bread and water."

Machina laughed. "Chocobos are big birds, but they can't fly. People ride them."

"That sounds cool!"

"Maybe after school I can take you over to my house and you can come see them!"

Rem sighed. "I'll ask my parents."

A whistle blew, and Machina's brother walked over to him. "Machina, come on. It's time to go inside!"

Machina hopped off the swing, and Rem followed suit. Izana held out his hands for both kids to take as they left the playground, and headed for the building.


	3. Author's Note

Hello readers! I know you might be confused as to why the first and second entries of this story seem to be out of order.

Well, for the most part, I'm just writing these chapters as I come up with them. This story isn't really meant to be in any sort of order. I might decide to reorganize the chapters of this story once I think there's enough content there for the story to be considered complete, so until then, enjoy the randomness!


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